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Abstract: This paper empirically explores the driving factors of corporate social responsibility using survey data from the United States and Mainland China. A web survey was administered to 2763 middle and senior managers in more than 400 companies in Mainland China and the United States that aimed to identify the key driving factors of corporate social responsibility in practice. The factor analysis identified five key factors for corporate social responsibility: business motivation, pressures from market and society, barriers from the internal and external environment, ethics motivation, and pressures from institutions and supervisors. The survey results show that business motivation is the strongest driving force for corporate social responsibility. Pressures from market and society, barriers from internal and external environments, ethics motivation, and pressures from institutions and supervisors have relatively less importance for driving corporate social responsibility.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, factor analysis, United States, China

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the most important issues in the 21st century because of financial crises, climate changes, environmental impacts, and ecological imbalance. It has generated much attention in both academics and practitioners. Earlier research discussed whether companies should undertake CSR or what kinds of CSR to undertake. In recent years, more and more scholars have gradually focused on the relationship between CSR and financial performance, or enterprise value. Some scholars found there is a positive relationship between CSR and financial performance, while other scholars found no relationship or a negative relationship. Although there is no determined conclusion regarding the effect of CSR on financial performance, more and more companies, including small-to-medium enterprises (SME) have started to undertake CSR. What is the purpose of undertaking CSR when there may be conflict between the economic goal and ethical goal in profit-making organizations? Is CSR a voluntary act? Is it yielding to pressure or fulfilling purposes? This study aims to identify the key driving factors for CSR.

In general, CSR is a form of organizational behavior that reflects the contribution of companies to sustainable development and environmental protection. There remains no consensus regarding the definition of CSR, even though it is highly recognized by scholars and practitioners. The International Organization for Standardization defines social responsibility as the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and...

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